Wilder Kent Blog

The wettest winters and springs on record have had at least one benefit. The ponds and pools across Hothfield Heathlands are full of water!

On 19th May one hundred years ago, the first outdoors broadcast by the BBC was of professional cellist Beatrice Harrison playing to and with nightingales in the garden of her Surrey home. Around a million listeners tuned in to the midnight broadcast, and she performed for similar outdoor broadcasts over the next twelve years.

Margery Thomas describes another delightful May in Hothfield Heathland where volunteers conducted an amphibian torchlight survey on a number of Hothfield ponds. To learn what they found, read on!

The writer H E Bates moved from Northamptonshire to Little Chart Forstal in 1931. His deep knowledge of the countryside coloured all his writing. In ‘Through the Woods’ (1936), with fine wood engravings by Agnes Miller Parker, he wrote in loving detail about the plant and animal life in Coldham Wood, which lies due west of the Extension section of Hothfield Heathland.

Margery Thomas, volunteer at Hothfield Heathlands, gives us an update from the reserve, where the first signs of spring are stirring!

Ian Rickards, Area Manager for Kent Wildlife Trust explains why there is some dramatic work currently being undertaken at Hothfield Heathlands Nature Reserve.

Margery Thomas describes a rainy November at Hothfield Heathland as pigs have been introduced and work is being done to make the bog areas more resilient to drier months.

Margery Thomas, volunteer at Hothfield Heathlands is back to talk about the importance of using pigs in conservation.